Saturday, January 14, 2012

Donna and I were riding in the Smokey Mountains and stopped by in of the new t-shirt shops the local Harley dealer has opened up on "the Dragon", US129. One of the employees said something to the effect that Harley was going water cooled next year. You hear this kind of thing every year or so. We kinda chuckled and went on our way.

Later over coffee, Donna and I asked each other if we would buy a water cooled Harley. Both said no. More discussion on new bikes and inevitably we came around to replacing Big Red ('09 Tri-Glide). It had 35,000 miles, was out of warranty, was going to need rear tires /brakes soon and already had gone through a drive belt and transmission rebuild. We bought these things to ride, not wait around in overpriced stores while they get fixed. I can fix just about anything on the bikes but not so easily without a garage. Our full-time lifestyle just doesn't lend itself to that. So we look for things with little maintenance required.

A phone call later we located a 2012 Tri-Glide at our favorite dealer in Cookeville, TN, Boswell's Harley-Davidson. A few weeks later the deal was done. New bike, new warranty, new payment (just a little bigger than before) and some fun making it mine.

Here's what I really like about the new bike:

Rides smoother.

Rear brakes actually stop well.

Shifts smoother with no annoying 5th gear whine.

2 tone paint - Ember Red SunGlo/Merlot

Improved trunk latch

Screamin' Eagle pipes, Donna really likes the sound!

Road Tech GPS

Chrome wheels

Chrome front forks

All told, it's a better bike in that Harley improved on many of the mistakes they made in '09. Here's a photo we took when we picked up the bike...I've added a lot of bling but haven't taken time for a new pic. Soon...